MOORHEAD, Minn. (2/20/08)-- Concordia scored the final 22 points of the game from the free throw line and used a stifling defense to beat No.16-ranked St. Thomas 67-57 and clinch a spot in the conference tournament. The Cobbers will be making their first MIAC playoff appearance since the 2004-05 season. The win pushes CC's record to 12-12 overall and 11-8 in the MIAC. The Tommies fall for the first time in 11 games. They lose for only the fourth time all season and fall to 20-4 overall and 16-3 in the MIAC.

The game was decided by the Cobber defense and their ability to draw fouls and connect on their free throw attempts. Concordia forced St. Thomas into a season-high 23 turnovers. The Cobbers also made 33 of their 43 (76.7%) as compared to only 5-of-6 (83.3%) for the Tommies. In the second half alone, Concordia went 26-for-33 (78.8%) from the line and made their final 22 points from the line. Their last field goal came at the 11:19 mark when Erik Lien made a layup to bring the score to 45-39. From that point on, the Cobbers were able to get to the line from their aggressive offensive schemes and their ability to rebound missed St. Thomas field goal attempts.

Concordia led for most of the game and started the game by taking a six-point lead at 18-12 at the midway point of the first half. CC would push the lead to seven before St. Thomas would go on a 9-2 run to tie the game at 21-21. UST scored the next four points to take a 25-21 lead, their biggest of the game, with 3:11 to play in the opening period. The Cobbers would respond with a 7-2 run to finish off the half leading 28-27.

At the start of the second half, St. Thomas would take another four-point lead at 34-30 before CC seized the lead for good at 38-37 with 15:22 to play. From that point forward, Concordia would steadily build the lead and hold a 45-39 lead when the march to the free throw line would start. The Cobbers would extend the lead to double digits with just under five minutes to play and then put the game away by connecting on seven free throws in the final two minutes of play.

For the game, Concordia hit on only 16 field goal attempts as compared to 22 for St. Thomas. CC was 16-for-44 (36.4%) from the floor and 2-for-9 (22.2%) from 3-point range. The Cobbers scored almost half of their 67 total points from the free throw line. The Tommies finished by shooting 40.0% (22-for-55) from the field and 38.1% (8-for-21) from behind the arc.

Only two players factored in double figures for Concordia. Lien had a game-high 15 points and Luke Linz finished with 12 points. Lien went 9-for-10 from the line and Linz was 8-for-9. All told, eight different players made at least one free throw for the Cobbers. Linz' 12 points marks the 39th consecutive conference game he has scored in double figures. James Baldwin had the best all-around night for CC as he had eight points and a game-high seven rebounds. He was also had a perfect shooting night going 2-for-2 from the floor and 4-for-4 from the line.

St. Thomas had only one player with more than seven points. The Tommies, who used 15 different players in the game, were led by Joe Scott who came away with 11 points and four rebounds.

Concordia will finish off the regular season by hosting St. Mary's on Saturday, Feb. 23 at 3 p.m. A Cobber win will give CC the No.4 seed in the playoffs and they would then host the Johnnies in the first round on Tuesday, Feb. 26 at 7:30 p.m. A Cobber loss and an SJU victory would mean that Concordia earn the No.5 seed and would play at St. John's on Feb. 26 at 7:30 p.m.